Aerial ladder.



N0. 684,520. 4 Patented Oct, I5, l90l.

E. E. NOLAN. A

AERIAL LADDER.

(Application led June 27, 1900,)

4 Sheets-Sheet I.

(No Model.)

VVl'crleslzsfl lnventoir.

Edward 57i/ola n 4gw%m l I p/fa, By MM 41%;

- Attorney, y

*mi mams PETERS ou. Fumo-nwo.. WASHINGTON. 124 c.

Patented Oct. I5, |90il.

E. E. NLAN.

AERIAL LADDER.

[Application filed Jun 27, 1900.)

4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

(No Modem W itnesses.

fdr/mmf. Nolan Attorney.

Tn: cams PETERS ou, vnorlnlma., WASHINGYON. uV4 c. f

No. 684,520. Patented Oc. I5, 190|.

E. E. NoLAN. A, y

AERIAL LADDER.

Appl at nldJun 2 1900) (No Mndel.)

4 Sheets-Shee 4.

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Inventr.

` Witnesses.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD E. NOLAN, OF GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN.

AERIAL LADDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 684,520, dated October 15, 1901.

` Applicata.. ha time 27,1900.

To LLZZ 'LU/"wm t may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD E. NoLAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Grand Rapids, in the county of Kent and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Aerial Ladders,A of which the following isa specification.

My invention relates to improvements in aerial ladders for use by lire departments for Io reaching the upper stories in high buildings;

and its objects are, first, to provide an aerial ladder that may be continuously extended from a reel with an assurance of ample rigidity; second, to provide fora uniform convenient extension of theladder, and, third, to provide for quickly and conveniently adjusting said ladder to the place and position desired. Iattain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in

zo Which-'- Figure l is a plan of the ladder and truck with the platform removed to show the relative positions of the several actuating and operative parts. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a5 the same with the ladder elevated and the 3o the platform.

table and body of the truck on the line of 4e support and holding it to position.

line of Fig. 1.

Fig. l. Fig. G shows the mechanism for regulating the angle of the ladder by hand. Fig. 7 shows the top of the reel-support with the gear-Wheel and pawl for elevating the ladder- Fg. 8 is a side view. Fig. 9 is an end view, and Fig. l0 is a plan of the folding length or extensions of the ladder. Fig.A 11 is a sectional view of the ladder and ladder-support on the Fig. 12 is a plan of the tongue; and Fig. 13 shows the reel-shaft, &c.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

A represents the front truck, and A' represents the hind truck, that supports my ladder.

G is the frame of the truck, and it has a Serial No. 21,839. (No model.)

backwa1'dl ,'-extending portion B', designed to support the ladder when not in active use, and T is the tongue by which the trucks are drawn. The ladder E is supported in a support or guideway G, that is pivoted to the standards G/ in such a manner that the outer end may be carried up toward a vertical position, as shown in Fig. 2. This may be accomplished in one of three ways or in two of the three Ways combined. First, it may bc elevated by means of the screw-gear P P2, actuated by the shaft and hand-wheel P2, as indicated in Fig. 3; second, it may be raised by hand by means of the gear-wheels P and W, actuated by the crank g, and, third, it may be actuated by the gear-wheel l and the arm I, which is attached at the other end to theside of the guideway G, and may be actu-l ated by means of the crank J2 (shown in Fig. 7) or by the bevel-gear jy", actuated by the hand-wheel and shaft J, and it may be locked t0 place by the pawl z', engaging the gear- Wheel I, as indicated in Fig. 7. The ladder may also be raised, by means of the cable U', in the following manner: The draft of the entire truck is upon the rod U, Which is slidingly secured under the tongue T, the

back end being attached to the whiiiietree T, which in turn is held to place by the pin M. The front end of the cable U'- is attached to the whiflietree T', whence the cable extends back around the idlers u and it and around the vWheel U2, ywhich is mounted upon' the shaft F2, that carries the gear-Wheels I".

Wishing to raise the ladder by the horses, the linchpin M is drawn by means of the cord M, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 2, and the rod U, the whiffletrees T,and the cable Uy Will be drawn forward, as indicated by the dotted lines in Figs. l, 2, and l2, which will cause the shaft F2, and with it the gear- Wheels I, to revolve and draw the arms I forward and the ladder toward a vertical position, as hereinbefore described. The eXtensions E of the ladder are stored and supported upon the reel D, which is supported upon the standards F and is arranged to revolve upon the shaft F by means of the hollow shaft orhub F2, to which it is secured, and the Whole is supported upon the turn-table C, which is` made to revolve freely by means of IOS) the ball-bearings or antifriction-rollers C', which action may be further facilitated by the use of a broad head X to the king-bolt X, between which and the top of the turntable I place a series of balls c to form an ordinary ball-bearing. This turn-table may be made to revolve, by means of the gear-wheels o 0', through the medium of the hand-wheel and shaft o2 in the usual manner of revolving heavy turntables of this character. The extensions E are made of a proper lengthbe-vv tween pivot-points to just fit over each divi-I passing through one extension, so that it is held rigidly to place, and through aslot, as e3, in the other extension, so that it may be made toslide lengthwise sufciently to properly enter or withdraw the bearing e, as hereinbcfore described. The upper length of the ladder E should be considerably longer than the extensions and normally is supported in the guide-frame G, so that it may be carried out longitudinally and will draw the extensions A, after it until they are farenough advanced to be engaged by the elevatingdevice,a very convenient' form of which I show at H in Figs. l, 2,,a`nd ll, which is a belt mounted upon and drivenby the pulleys L and L in such a manner thaty when the pulley L is made to revolve either by the crank H2 in Fig. l or by the bevel gear-wheels II and hand-wheel and shaft 77,' the projecting arms h will be forced against the lower edge of the ladder-rungs g and will force the ladder up and out of the support. I place an idler Z in position to hold the' belt H parallel with the ladder from the pulley L to Q, whence it is made to incline away from the ladder until the pulley L is reached to gradually draw the arms h from 50' contact with the rungs g of the ladder. As it is necessary to carry the extensions up to enter the two parts together before the extension is forced up to form a portion of the ladder, I find it advisable to use an auxiliary elevator, as indicated at L in Fig. 11, which may be so adjusted as to raise the extension or the ladder slightly before the elevator proper comes in contact with the rungs of the ladder to raise it.

In the application of the hose I prefer that the portion N be made of ordinary iron pipe and that the nozzle a be rigidly attached to it and bent to one side, as indicated, so that an operator may turn the pipe and nozzle to the desired direction, as indicated'by the dotted lines in Fig. 11, without being to the necessity of standing at the top of the ladder. The

balance of the hose may be stored upon a spool, as N2, the hose N being Hexible and wound thereon in the usual manner. This storage-spool may be mounted upon a shaft, as a3, and should be provided with a coiled spring, as a2 (see Fig..5) of sufficient length and strength to rewind the hose as the ladder is beinglowered. The reelD may be provided with a coiled spring, as V, for re-coiling the ladder as it is being lowered; but I do not deem it practical to do so for the reasons, first, it would yrequire so strong a spring to take care of the ladder that the strain upon the elevators would be greatly increased; second, it would require so long a spring that it would be next to impossible to give it the necessary strength, and, third, it would render it necessary to greatlyincrease the Weight and strength of the reel to support the added strain of the spring.

For the purpose of bracing the ladder when extended I place a cable S upon a reel R in position so that the cable will pay out as the ladder extends, anda bridge, as indicated at S in Fig. 2, by means of which the entire strength of the cables may be made available to assist in supporting the ladder and its load. When it is found necessary to throw the ladder around to one side of the truck, as indicated in Fig. 4, and to place it at a low incline,

as indicated in Fig. 2, there is great danger of tipping the trucks over. To a'vert this danger, I place a pair of strong slides Y upon the turn-table C in position so that they may be drawn out to greatly change. the supporting-base to meet any desired change in the center of gravity of the ladder and hinge a standard Y to the outer end thereof, which should extend to the ground, and tov further IOO strengthen it a brace Y2 may be placed from the top of the standards to the ladder, all as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2. The platform K is designed for the operators when manipulating the ladder, and the actuatingshafts and hand-wheels J, o2, and p2, and h' are all so situated as to`be easily accessible therefrom. The ladder K is fitted with an extension K2, that may be thrown down, so that the platform may be easily accessible when the ladder is carried around toene side i of the trucks, as in Fig. 4. I do not desire to restrict my invention t the exact construction herein shown and described, but wish to cover any and all available modifications thereof that may come Within the principle of mechanical equivalentsas, for instance, there are several forms of connecting appliances that may be made to perform the oflice of the bearing e and the supports e-'-the germ of myinvention the holding of the trucks rigidly to place when manipulating the ladder either by hand or with the horses, as hereinbefore described.-

I-Iaving thus fully described my invention, What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. In an aerial ladder, a supporting-truck, a turn-table thereon, a reel mounted on said turn-table, a pivoted support also mounted on said turn-table, an extensible ladder on said support and said reel the extensions whereof are adapted to form a rigid ladder when extended, and mechanism for elevating and extending said ladder, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In an aerial ladder, a supporting-truck, a turn-table mounted thereon ball-bearings supporting it, a reel mounted onsaid turntable, an adjustable support pivoted at one end to standards on said turn-table back of the reel a ladder formed of a long upper section and a series of shorter extensions fitted to be stored upon and extended from said reel,l arms and gear connected to manipulate the pivoted support, an elevator secured to the support and engaging the rungs of the ladder, and a gear-Wheel and crank connected therewith, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In an aerial ladder, a supportingtruck, a turn-table mounted thereon, a pivotal bolt securing said turn-table to the truck, and having a broad head, ball-bearings between the turn-table and the truck-bottom and between the turn-table and the broad bolt-head, a reel and sectional ladder on said turn-table, and mechanism for operating the ladder, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. In an aerial ladder, a supporting-truck, a turn-table revolubly supported thereon, a reel supported on standards on said turn-table, a support pivoted at' one end to standards on the turn-table back of the reel, a hollow shaft for supporting said reel, a solid shaft passing through said hollow shaft and supported on the standards, gear-Wheels on the ends of said shaft, arms connecting said gear-Wheels with the support, a sheave on one end of said shaft, idlers upon said turn-table, a tongue upon the truck, Whiffletrees secured to the tongue, a cable wound on said sheave and extending thence over said idlers to and connected with the whifietrees under the tongue, a sliding auxiliary tongue or rod attached to the whiifltrees, and a removable linchpin, all so arranged that the drawing of the linchpin Will allow the Whiflletrees to slide forward, draw the cable, revolve the y shaft and raise the support, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

5. In an aerial ladder, a supporting-truck, a turn-table revolubly mounted on said truck, a reel. mounted on said turn-table, a guide- Way pivoted at one end to standards on said turn-table back of the reel, a ladder supported in said guideway, short extensions back of said ladder and stored on the reel, an elevator on said support in position to engage the rungs of the ladder, a shaft Within the reel, gear-Wheels on said shaft, arms connected to the support and engaging said gear- Wheels, a screw-gear connected with. the pivoted end of the support, a gear-Wheel and shaft connected with the elevator mechanism, and an auxiliary elevator, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

6. In combination with the supportingtrucks, turn-table, pivotal support, and extensible ladder, a hose connected to the upper section of ladder, a flexible hose connected therewith and coiled upon a storage-reel, and a storage-reel mounted on the turn-table and having an actuating-spring, and a cable and reel attached to the ladder and support, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

7. In an aerial ladder, a truck, a turn-table upon said truck, a guideway pivoted at one end to the turn-table, elevators upon said guideway, a reel, a sectional extensible ladder upon said reel the ends of the stiles of which are tapered and beveled to form the tongue of a dovetail joint, dovetail sockets on each end of said stiles arranged to interlock with the tongues of the adjacent stiles, and said stiles pivoted together and provided with slots for the longitudinal adjustment of the dovetail joints, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

8. In combination, a truck, a reel revolubl y mounted thereon, a ladder made up of extensions pivotally connected and stored upon said reel, interlocking joints formed upon the connected ends of said extensions, a pipe and nozzle secured to the upper section of said ladder to be readily revolved, a hose attached to the lower end of said pipe, a hose-reel upon the turn-table, a guideway and an elevator attached thereto, substantialty as and for the purpose set forth.

Signed at VGrand Rapids, Michigan, May 26, 1900.

EDWARD E. NOLAN.

In presence of- I. J. OILLEY, F. D. DIBBLE.

ICO 

